Tube mat heat exchanger systems for solar collectors, embedded radiant heating installations and other purposes are in widespread use. Such systems employ extended flexible tube mats having a number of tubes cojoined side-by-side with the tube end portions separated from one another and connected to a pair of manifold headers. A fluid such as a heat exchange liquid is passed through the inflow header to the first end of all the tubes in the mats and then out the opposite ends of the tubes into the outflow header. An optimum form of such tube mats is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,654 and an improved technique for connecting the tube end portions to the headers is described in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17,724 filed Mar. 5, 1979.
In accordance with this prior art each tube mat is turned back alongside itself and the connection of the tube ends are made to the pair of headers so that the mats are disposed to one side of and extending laterally from the headers. If another array of mats is desired on the opposite side of the headers a second pair of headers and associated mats must be provided.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a double tube mat arrangement with a single header pair so that twice as great an area can be serviced with tube mats by one pair of headers. The double mats are associated with the one pair of headers in a manner such that one mat can be aligned with and laid over the other, so that for storage and shipment they can be rolled together into a unitary mat roll. When installed the double overlaid mats are unrolled and simply disposed on opposite sides of the single pair of headers, thus covering twice the area that a prior art header pair and roll would have covered.